Santa was good to Hollywood over the Christmas holiday, delivering hearty box-office returns more than 34 percent higher than the same weekend last year.

The action-adventure tale "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" pulled in $65.4 million over the five-day holiday weekend. The Will Smith sci-fi flick "I Am Legend" dropped to second place with a $47.6 million holiday-weekend take. The animated "Alvin and the Chipmunks" finished third with $38.6 million.

Five films opened Christmas Day. "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" collected $9.5 million; "The Great Debaters" brought in $3.6 million; "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" took in $2.4 million. "The Bucket List" opened on 16 screens and collected $161,840 at the box office, while the French film "Persepolis" opened on seven screens and brought in $37,118 in ticket sales.

Movies brought in a total of $160 million Friday through Sunday, compared to about $119 million for the same period last Christmas weekend.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Tuesday, followed by distribution studio, five-day gross through Tuesday, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross through Tuesday and number of weeks in release, as compiled by Media By Numbers LLC are: